


when you find what’s worth keeping

by sarahcakes613



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: First Dates, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:27:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24760783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahcakes613/pseuds/sarahcakes613
Summary: Sonny's date cancels on him and Rafael steps in.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 16
Kudos: 85
Collections: Barisi Pride 2020





	when you find what’s worth keeping

**Author's Note:**

> This covers Side A: Yellow and Side B: First Date for the June challenge.
> 
> This is sort of my mini take on the "your date stood you up and I felt bad so I pretended to be your date" trope.

Rafael is tucked away in a corner, nursing an Old Fashioned before going home to reheated leftovers at the end of a long day, when he sees someone he knows walk into the bar.

It’s Carisi, the newest and unquestionably most enthusiastic detective on Olivia’s team, six feet of curiosity and ill-fitted suits.

Only the suit isn’t so bad tonight, Barba notices. It’s a slimmer fit, better cut to the detective’s proportions. The tie is still a bit of a disaster, a deep mustard yellow piece that does nothing for Sonny’s complexion. He needs either something brighter to emphasise the creamy tones in his skin, perhaps a canary yellow, or something warmer, like a burnished gold.

He seats himself at the bar and looks around, eyes skimming past Barba and not registering him. He’s looking for someone, then, and when he doesn’t see them, he looks down at his watch. He’s carrying a single cut sunflower, which he places carefully on the bar in front of him.

Barba doesn’t know the younger man very well yet, so he isn’t sure if this is a case of a man whose girlfriend is running late or a man who is about to be stood up on a blind date. He leans back in his seat, content to watch his coworker and see what happens next.

What happens next is nearly thirty minutes of waiting. Barba rather hopes this is a blind date gone wrong, hates to think of why an established partner would be so late in showing up without Carisi’s phone ringing once in the meantime.

The bartender has come and gone twice now, checking on Carisi and refreshing his pint glass. Carisi’s phone finally pings and he reads whatever is on the screen with a growing look of frustration before tapping out a quick reply and tucking it back into his pocket.

A cancelled date, then, Barba thinks. He feels bad for the other man, and thinks about what he has planned for the evening. The leftovers will keep another day. Decision made, he drains his glass before sliding out of his booth and walking over to where the detective is slumped in his seat.

“Having a bad night, detective?” He asks, helping himself to the stool next to the other man.

Carisi looks up, startled from his thoughts.

“Counsellor, hey! Nah, well, yeah, I guess. I was supposed to be meeting a date but they cancelled at the last minute. After the last minute, actually.” He frowns at the sunflower, poking it dejectedly. “I had a whole evenin’ planned, too.”

“Well, it’s her loss.” Barba says, his hand hovering near Sonny’s, unsure if a pat would come across as sympathetic or patronizing.

Carisi glances at him and then back down at the sunflower, studiously avoiding eye contact as he says, “his loss, actually.”

Barba nods, taking it in stride. “His loss, then.”

They sit silently together for a beat before curiosity wins out.

“What sort of evening did you have planned?” Barba asks.

Carisi sits up and pulls an envelope out of his jacket pocket. “He likes art, so I got us tickets to this wine and cheese thing at a gallery over in Soho. We were gonna go to that, and then get late-night tacos at this great little hole-in-the-wall near my apartment.” He blushes. “Figured it’d be convenient, if things went really well.”

Barba’s eyebrows go up at this. “On the first date, detective?”

Carisi’s own eyebrows do a complicated jig. “You don’t need to call me that when we’re not at work, you know. Or even when we’re at work. I don’t know why everyone’s so against callin’ me Sonny.”

Barba shrugs. “I can’t speak to the squad; I just like being contrary.”

The younger man snorts as he raises his pint glass in a cheers and drains it. “Well, as nice as it is to see you outside your natural habitat, I may as well get going. Have a good evenin’, Mr. Barba.”

Sonny leaves the sunflower, and Rafael picks it up.

“What kind of art?” He asks, casually.

Sonny’s back is to him and he turns around to face the lawyer. “Wire sculptures, stuff made from like, copper and tubing and stuff. I don’t know, it looked weird but pretty cool. I was mainly going for the wine and cheese, honestly.”

Barba rolls his eyes but stands, buttoning up his jacket. He tucks the sunflower through the handle of his briefcase.

“Come on, we may as well skip the gallery and go straight to the tacos if that’s your attitude towards art.” He walks out of the bar, Sonny trailing behind him like a confused puppy.

“We? Wait, Barba, what do you mean, we?”

Rafael steps onto the road, arm out for a cab. One pulls up immediately, and he opens the door, gesturing for Sonny to get in. He does so, still looking confused, and Rafael smirks at the automatic response.

“Give the man an address, Sonny.” He says, and Sonny does so, leaning forward to show the cabbie where the taco place is on the GPS.

He sits back, and looks over at Rafael, who is absently stroking the pointed petals of the sunflower.

“I feel like I’m being complicit in my own kidnapping.” Sonny jokes.

“Just a new and improved first date.” Rafael corrects. “One man’s loss is another man’s gain.”

“Am I the gain in this equation?” Sonny asks.

Rafael looks up at him through hooded eyes, one eyebrow arched. “I suppose that will depend on if things go _really well_.” He says, repeating the phrase Sonny had used.

**Author's Note:**

> And things do indeed go really well and they eat tacos and then go back to Sonny's apartment and Rafael definitely uses that mustard tie in very creative ways.


End file.
